Los Angeles Injury Lawyer Blog

A person injured by falling objects (such as from a ceiling or roof) may have a claim of negligence against the owner of the premises where the accident occurred. Whether a claim of premises liability will be successful in a court of law depends on the relationship between the injured party and the property owner. Specifically, the law will look at whether the owner owed and breached a duty to the injured person to exercise reasonable care and whether that breach was the proximate cause of the injury. In most cases, an ordinary standard of care applies. This “ordinary” standard of care typically requires the landowner to inspect his or her premises for any hidden dangers. If a dangerous condition is found, the owner must then take steps to remove it or provide a proper warning about the danger. The standard of care is even higher for certain categories of business owners such as innkeepers or common carriers.

Courts have ruled on several types of “falling objects” cases including but not limited to:
• Merchandise in retail stores: paint cans, canned goods, bottles, boxes, product displays
• Carpet and linoleum rolls, bolts of fabric
• Plaster from ceiling
• Construction debris
• Bridge repair sites
• Lighting fixtures
• Fans, cooling systems
• Walls, doors, windows, and roofs/ ceilings
• Trees
• Loading and unloading activities
• Building facades

Often in falling object situations, the injured person is unable to prove exaclty what caused the object to fall or the exact location from where it fell. In these situations, the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur (“the thing speaks for itself”) steps in to help the injured victim. Res ipsa loquitur applies where the circumstances of certain types of accidents may justify an implied negligence, even if negligence cannot be definitively proved by the occurrence of the accident. Byrne v. Boadle is the landmark case in which the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur was first applied. In this case, a man injured by a barrel of flour that fell from the second-floor of a shop, could not prove exactly how or why the barrel had fallen. However, the court still found the shop responsible because such an accident could not have occurred without some degree of negligence. Since then, courts have used the res ipsa loquitur doctrine to find liability in falling objects cases. A California court found a theater operator liable for plaster that fell from the ceiling and injured a patron because he had responsibility for the upkeep of the premises.

If you or a loved one has been injured by a falling object, you may be able to receive for compensation for your injuries. Call the experienced injury lawyers at The Law Offices of Greenberg & Rudman LLP at 1-800-ALAWPRO (1-800-252-9776) to find out how we can help. By taking action, you can help prevent unfortunate accidents such as these from happening again.